Pedestal 07: Daft Punk: Human Before All?

When Daft Punk’s Human After All first leaked a few months ahead of its 2005 release, many fans thought it was a stunt, a throwaway record to heckle internet pirates. However, it wasn’t meant to be. The album, recorded and mixed in a mere two weeks, was harshly criticized in the press for being rushed, repetitive and unoriginal, in stark contrast to the intricate, perfectionist design of their previous two albums, the genre-defining pair of Homework and Discovery. Conceived as a concept album about the dangers humanity faced at the hands of technology, it was ripped apart for sounding utterly inhuman and robotic. In their mission to strip back the music, intending to leave only raw emotion, they ended up digitizing any organic elements left in their sound. If the music press was to be believed, the great Daft Punk were at their creative end with Human After All, and all hope seemed lost for dance music.

Fast forward to 2008, and the blueprint of Human After All has permeated modern electronic music. Three years ago, its looped hooks and gritty guitars were lampooned for masking a lack of real emotion and substance (the pursuit of which, ironically, were the duo’s reasons for simplifying the production process). Now, it’s impossible to say that the record hasn’t had sweeping influence. The genre’s most buzzworthy acts, including heavy hitters from Justice and Simian Mobile Disco to MSTRKRFT and more, are greatly indebted to the album’s raw electronic template. To finish off this tale of musical comeuppance, Daft Punk has in the past year risen from the critically-mauled ashes of Human After All and regained their place at the top of the dance game. Thanks to their frantic, universally acclaimed Alive 2007 tour set, and the sea change in electronic music, the album’s tracks have been re-judged, and now stand comfortably alongside their best tracks as essential dance standards. Here are some cuts from the album (including one of my favorites, the hard-driving, tongue-in-cheek synths of "Emotion") and two reworkings from their recent shows. Juxtaposed with those are eight tracks and remixes by other more current artists that pick up where Human After All left off. Justice and Simian Mobile Disco are the most avid followers, though others like Mr. Oizo and Digitalism have joined the fray as well, dropping the electroclash in favor of fuzzier sounds. The mounting evidence shows that perhaps Daft Punk were actually ahead of the game with Human After All and its guitar-dance revisionism, precociously defying our initial doubts. Thanks to a fellow FlopPop poster for first making the observation--it was spot-on!

From Human After All:
Daft Punk, “Human After All” [YSI]
Daft Punk, “Television Rules The Nation” [YSI]
Daft Punk, “Emotion” [YSI]

From Alive 2007:
Daft Punk, “Touch It/Technologic” [YSI]
Daft Punk, “The Prime Time Of Your Life/The Brainwasher/Rollin’ & Scratchin’/Alive” [YSI]

The Followers:
Justice, “Phantom Pt. II” [YSI] (from †)
Justice Vs. Simian, “We Are Your Friends” [YSI]
The Black Ghosts, “I Want Nothing” [YSI] (from The Black Ghosts)
Simian Mobile Disco, “Tits & Acid” [YSI] (from Attack Decay Sustain Release)
MSTRKRFT, “Easy Love” (Edit) [YSI] (from The Looks)

Followers In The Mix:
Britney Spears Feat. Madonna, “Me Against The Music” (Justice Remix) [YSI]
Depeche Mode, “Never Let Me Down Again” (Digitalism Mix) [YSI]
Calvin Harris, “Merrymaking At My Place” (Mr. Oizo Remix) [YSI]

***Note: Links removed***

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